With the most likely scenario being that he and his Pinelands Regional football team classmates would not play another game on their home field, senior tight end and defensive lineman Jimmy McCutcheon took a quick, deep breath, pausing to collect his thoughts before unloading.
“If this was my last game on this field, it was a hell of a game,” said McCutcheon moments after the Wildcats knocked off Triton, 21-0, on Oct. 30 to advance to the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 semifinals. “Some of us have been doing this since whenever and we’ve grown together as a family, so we have a tight bond. The fans were great. The energy was great. So, if this is the last time on our home field, it feels great.”
Another win. Another shutout. Another historic step in what has been an amazing season thus far.
“All this started at the end of last season, right away, getting into the weight room and working out on the field together,” McCutcheon said. “We all wanted to get better, and we’re all chasing the same goal. We’re not done yet.”
The third-seeded Wildcats (10-0) will go on the road to face third-seeded Oakcrest on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 11 a.m.
“I sent a text to our guys on Sunday, a couple of days after the dust settled at the end of the regular season,” said head coach John Tierney. “I said, ‘Congratulations on your last season. It’s a new season now.’ It’s the playoffs, so we have to expect to be one of two heavyweights punching each other in the middle of the ring. It’s survive and advance now. We’re 1-0, but it’s on to the next.”
Following a scoreless first quarter, the Wildcats took their first step toward the next round of the playoffs – their first time competing in them since 2004 – when they needed just six plays to traverse 85 yards to take the only lead they needed.
MASSIVE HOLE: Pinelands Regional junior running back R.J. Clark has a lot of running room as he heads for the end zone during a 29-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
On third-and-3 from their own 23-yard line, senior quarterback Jamie Jenkins ran the ball to the 32 for a first down before junior running back R.J. Clark busted out runs of 19, 20 and 29 yards to put the Wildcats on the scoreboard with a 6-0 lead and 5:26 left in the first half.
“On the line, it’s a war every single play,” said senior lineman Seth Ramirez. “We have conversations I can’t even talk about. It’s like bears fighting. But we have to put everything on the line to protect our quarterback and running backs. We’re the heart of the team, and if we couldn’t be together and bonded, we couldn’t be a great team. It starts with us, and we’re a family.”
Pinelands’ next possession was cut short by an interception that was returned to its 10-yard line, sticking the Wildcats’ defense with a major challenge with a few minutes left in the half.
On the first play, junior linebacker Montrell Carter dropped the opposing running back for a 3-yard loss. Senior defensive backs Greg Borden and A.J. O’Brien then got into the backfield to bring down one of the Mustangs’ receivers on a pitch pass at the 17-yard line. An incomplete pass on third down brought up fourth-and-goal, and the Mustangs’ pass play to the right sideline was stopped short of the first-down marker by senior defensive back Sam Kilasi, giving Pinelands the ball with 1:26 to go in the half.
“That defensive stand was ginormous,” Tierney said. “We had the possession coming out of the half, so it was almost like getting an extra possession. It was huge to get that stop.”
HOWL IT OUT: Pinelands Regional junior linebacker Montrell Carter shouts with excitement alongside senior Brody Rawa after making a big hit in the fourth quarter on Oct. 30.
And as soon as the Wildcats returned to the field for the second half, they stepped on the gas, taking the ball 69 yards to the house to go ahead by two scores.
“In the first half, I had some jitters,” said Jenkins, who completed nine of 17 passes for 71 yards. “It’s the first playoff game in a long time, and I was letting the pressure get to me. At halftime, the coaches just told us to play our game and just do what we needed to do, and in the second half I got out of my head and helped lead the team to a win.”
After seven plays to start the Wildcats’ second scoring drive pushed the ball to the Triton 30-yard line, Jenkins fired a pass toward the goal line along the right sideline and found senior wide receiver Dom Colosi all by himself.
“Steph Curry once said in an interview, when he was asked what he thinks about when he shoots, and he said, ‘Absolutely nothing,’ that’s me,” said Colosi, who hauled in five passes for 48 yards. “I’m going out to just catch the ball. See it and catch it, that’s it. The only thing I’m thinking is to put my team in the best position to get a W.”
Jenkins ran the ball in from a few yards away for the two-point conversion, staking the Wildcats to a 14-0 advantage with 6:40 to go in the third quarter.
“That first possession of the second half really cooled everything down for us,” Jenkins said. “We made sure we didn’t make any mistakes and made the drive. On that last play, our coaches knew they wouldn’t switch the post on the wheel route, and they didn’t, so Dom was open. All I had to do was make the throw.”
NOT STOPPING ME: Pinelands Regional senior quarterback Jamie Jenkins breaks through the tackle attempts of several Triton defenders during the third quarter of the Wildcats’ shutout win in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 playoffs.
After forcing the Mustangs to turn the ball over on downs and punt during their next two possessions, the Wildcats delivered the final blow, methodically moving the ball 49 yards over nine plays to make it a 21-0 game with 7:06 left. Clark, who finished with 162 yards on 17 carries, culminated the drive with a 1-yard burst off the right tackle, and Alex Hickey booted the extra point.
From there, it was the defense’s turn to finish off the Mustangs. It took only four plays to get the ball back in Pinelands’ hands. Senior linebacker Owen Taylor started with a sack, forcing Triton to make up ground right away. Instead, the Mustangs turned the ball over on downs with 4:11 to go, and the Wildcats milked the clock down to 35.9 seconds before Jenkins took a knee for the final play.
“Now we’re going to come in at 8 a.m. Monday and talk about our next opponent and then get to work on a game plan to win the game,” Colosi said. “We’re 10-0 for now, but it doesn’t matter. We’re 0-0 once we get to our next opponent.”
Oakcrest battered seventh-seeded Red Bank Regional, 40-0, to set up the clash with Pinelands, with the winner heading to the sectional final to meet either top-seeded Seneca or fourth-seeded Timber Creek next weekend.
“We believe we can do it,” McCutcheon said of winning the first sectional crown in school history. “It’s going to take a lot, but all these guys are going to give their 110%, and we’re all going to ride together through these next weeks, however long we can keep it going. We’ll have each other’s backs the whole time.”
